


The Veiled Reflection

by BrokenBones (Hikarinimichitasora)



Series: A Solitary Cell Whose Walls Are Mirrors [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Extremely Dubious Consent, M/M, Mirror Universe, Multi, Rape/Non-con Elements, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:01:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikarinimichitasora/pseuds/BrokenBones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Sequel] AOS Mirror!verse retelling of the 5 year mission.</p><p>McCoy has agreed to fight at Kirk's side, but there's a thin line between being an ally and a chew toy. With more at stake than ever, McCoy has to make the choice on whether to give into the Captain's desires or go against the dangerous Captain Kirk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How He Became Captain

**Author's Note:**

> From the episode ‘Balance of Terror’ and referencing Star Trek 2009. Contains dubious consent.

Star date: 2261.257

**A Solitary Cell Whose Walls Are Mirrors**

**Book Two: The Veiled Reflection**

**Chapter One: How He Became Captain**

 

McCoy found himself on the bridge more and more these days. With his official allegiance now pledged to Kirk, he was requested into most of the senior officer meetings. Some days he spent more time on the bridge than he did in his own Medbay, which was starting to cause some  dissent amongst the staff down there.

 

It hadn’t taken much for Chekov to convince them to keep their grumbling to themselves however.

 

Leonard hadn’t been part of an alliance since the Academy, where he’d formed a loose one with his fellow medical cadets. They had looked after each other where possible and avoided the Command track cadets at all costs. It had worked, after a fashion, but still left him without much to show for his time at the Academy, his networking mostly down to familial connections than shared favours and debts.

 

McCoy himself had only come up on the radar of Kirk once at the Academy, despite being in the same year group, and that was when he was selected to be part of the Captain’s bridge crew for the Kobayashi Maru.

 

McCoy remembered being terrified when he saw what Kirk was capable of during that practice mission. He had stared at the carnage at the end in equal parts disgust and horror, and had vowed that he’d never serve under such a captain.

 

It was interesting how his position had changed so drastically having served aboard Kirk’s ship.

 

He was stood to the left of Kirk, with Spock to his right. He could feel Uhura’s eyes on his back, but he ignored it. Killing him would be of no benefit to her right now, especially as he’d recently patched her up for a particularly gruesome set of injuries without having noted them on her official record.

 

There was a strange equilibrium starting to settle and McCoy couldn’t help but feel uneasy. That everything seemed to be going well seemed like a precursor to everything hitting the fan later.

 

They had used Ruk, the alien machine that could replicate humans, in order to disguise what they had done to Kodos long enough to get out of orbit around Planet Q. The ruse had worked as well, and when the body was discovered, the Enterprise was light years away. They hadn’t been beyond suspicion, but there was no way of proving anything.

 

The records of Ruk also appeared to go mysteriously missing and no one seemed to be able to remember anything about a robot that could replicate people. But wow, wouldn’t that be just an amazing thing to have?

 

McCoy didn’t know how Kirk had pulled it off, but he had. Everyone knew Kirk had done it, they just couldn’t find a way to prove it so he could be punished. It had come with a new, burgeoning respect from those back on Earth.

 

James Tiberius Kirk was a talked about name now. A new player in the political battlefield of the court.

 

“Sir, I’m getting a reading I don’t quite understand,” Sulu said. McCoy saw Kirk rise from his chair gracefully, walking over to Sulu’s console to see what was going on.

 

“Evasive maneuvers now!” Kirk roared and suddenly they were in high alert. McCoy grabbed the back of the Captain’s chair as the Enterprise shifted under his feet. Spock walked purposefully to the science console, starting his usual scanning for extraneous data that would tell them exactly what they were dealing with.

 

“Captain… It’s transmitting in Romulan,” Uhura said and apart from the noise of the klaxxon, everything went silent. Not a crew member moved as they watched as the Romulan vessel decloaked in front of them.

 

McCoy could feel his palms start to sweat. The last contact he’d had with the Romulan Star Empire had not been good. The madman Nero, with his gigantic ship and his ability to destroy entire planets…

 

What was worse in McCoy’s eyes was that _they_ had that technology now. The Narada was carefully stationed in a high security dock by Jupiter, and the Red Matter was kept in the Emperor’s own vaults for use against their enemies. It was as effective as the old concept of nuclear deterrents and kept the colonies in line.

 

“They’re hailing us Captain,” Uhura said, the first to speak. Kirk nodded, sitting back in his seat and sprawling out. If there was one thing that Kirk was good at, it was oozing the kind of arrogance that meant he didn’t have to do much to show that he thought he was better than you.

 

“Bring them on screen,” Kirk ordered. There was a moment where the screen was blank, but then an old face appeared, with pointed Vulcan ears.

 

McCoy knew that this was no Romulan. He glanced at Kirk to see if he was surprised to see a Vulcan had made an alliance with the Romulans, but the captain was smirking from ear to ear.

 

“Ah… Ambassador. This is an unusual mode of transport, even for you,” Kirk said, and his eyes gleamed and shone like his birthdays had all come at once. McCoy could see the elderly Vulcan looked sad, though he would have thought he would be afraid. There was something familiar about the shape of the man's face, the darkness of his eyes, though McCoy couldn't have said what it was.

 

“Captain Kirk. It is good to see you well again, Jim,” the Ambassador replied. McCoy blinked. He had not expected Kirk to know an ambassador that closely, especially not a Vulcan one.

 

“Let’s cut the bullshit, Ambassador. You’re defecting. Do you know what the penalty is for that? And I thought you were my _oldest friend_?” Kirk’s voice was condescending and mocking. McCoy saw the Vulcan’s expression harden.

 

“The James Kirk that I knew was no monster,” he said forcefully. Kirk laughed, slapping his thigh like a fantastic joke had been told. He sobered instantly a moment later and the result was incredibly creepy. McCoy felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.

 

“What separates your James Kirk and me, Ambassador? We are products of the universes we lived in,” he replied. “And in this universe, you don’t get second chances.”

 

The Ambassador sighed. “You are a fool, Captain. You could make this world better. You were on the right track when you took out Nero, but then you threw it all away in the perpetuation of a war that has no basis in logic.”

 

“I don’t need a lecture. Prepare to fire on that ship. We don’t suffer traitors to the Empire,” Kirk said. McCoy thought that was a bit rich coming from Kirk, who had admitted himself that his goal was to become the ultimate traitor to the Empire, but he said nothing, standing motionless by Kirk’s chair.

 

“There is a world where you all do not act like this. Where Doctor McCoy would have protested until he turned red against taking a life. Where my younger self would have argued against the logic of murder. Where you, Captain, would have looked for any other solution other than death,” the Ambassador said. He seemed resigned however and McCoy thought that, perhaps, he looked a little relieved.

 

“As it stands, old friend, all I can do is wish you well, or as well as I can in this universe,” he said. He raised his hand, forming the ta’al. McCoy sucked in a breath. He hadn’t seen that symbol in decades, not since the last Vulcan rebellion had died down. “Live long and prosper my friend.”

 

The screen went blank and Kirk nodded to Chekov and Sulu. The two of them grinned as they calibrated the weaponry and then they fired on the vessel.

 

It didn’t explode, it merely came apart. Pieces of debris floating into space. One of those pieces, McCoy assumed, was the body of the Ambassador.

 

“Uhura, inform High Command of the death of the Ambassador,” Kirk ordered. McCoy cleared his throat, causing Kirk to look up at him.

 

“He spoke as if he knew us?” McCoy prompted. Kirk let the corner of his mouth quirk upwards.

 

“He knew a reflection of us,” he said and then refused to explain further.

 

That night McCoy lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling and playing through the Ambassador’s last moments. He had shown no sign of anger or resentment, just acceptance of his fate, like he knew that his time was over.

 

“Live long and prosper…” McCoy repeated, attempting to make the ta’al with his hand. His fingers didn’t bend that way. He watched his straining fingers for a moment before he dropped his hands back to the bed sheets.

 

No one wished that in this universe. A long life was unlikely, to prosper one was almost guaranteed a shortened life span. He heard the door to his quarters open and he glanced up to see it was Kirk.

 

The Captain had taken to coming in uninvited. Sometimes he would share a drink while he informed McCoy of things happening in court. Those were the times McCoy didn’t mind. Sometimes he would come in angry and McCoy would find himself beaten until Kirk was satisfied. Those were the times McCoy hated. And then there were the times when he’d wake up and find Kirk just watching him. Those were the times McCoy feared because it showed that Kirk’s infatuation with him was deepening and soon he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

 

Kirk said nothing as he stalked forward. McCoy wondered what mood the Captain was in tonight. Kirk sat on the edge of the bed and bent down. He removed his boots. McCoy clenched his jaw, watching as Kirk straightened and then laid down beside him.

 

He felt Kirk’s hands on him for a moment, unwanted but not inappropriate. They guided him to roll over, to face away from Kirk’s gaze and he did so, closing his eyes and hoping that this was just one of the times where Kirk watched him for a while before leaving.

 

He heard the sound of fabric shifting and then a rhythmic sound that could only be one thing. He closed his eyes tighter. Kirk had said nothing to him, and he hadn’t challenged the behaviour. Since they’d become allies, they’d trod a thin line between what Leonard knew Kirk wanted most from him and what they needed from each other.

 

Now he could almost imagine it, there behind him. Kirk’s eyes half closed, his lips parted as he took himself in hand. What power did McCoy have that he could reduce the Captain to this? The great James Kirk to being a voyeur who had to hold himself back? He could feel his own body temperature rising, his body reacting to the noises from behind and what his own imagination could conjure.

 

He heard Jim’s breath catch and then felt the hot wetness against his back. He heard Kirk wiping his hands on the bed sheets before the other stood up. A moment later there was the sound of the door opening and shutting behind him.

 

Leonard lay there, his heart racing and his dick traitorously hard between his legs. He didn’t move though, to touch himself or clean himself off. He lay there for a while, trying to work out just what he could do about the situation he found himself in.

 

He woke up the next morning with sheets stuck to his back and still with no idea just how he wanted to deal with James Kirk.

 


	2. His Weakness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They thought you my weakness,” Kirk murmured, blood smeared across his lips. “But you’re not, are you McCoy? You’re a well-trained pet and you’re going to kill anything that seeks to break us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the episode ‘Shore Leave’.

Star date: 2261.301   


** A Solitary Cell Whose Walls Are Mirrors **

** Book Two: The Veiled Reflection **

** Chapter Two: His Weakness **

**  
**

He can see it. He can see how weak he is. It’s there before him to see in bright technicolor. He watches as he steals into McCoy’s room his intent to discuss Ambassador Spock and the reasons of his demise, watches as his traitorous body gets hard. He watches his face, the soppy, disgusting expressions on it as he releases onto the Doctor’s back. He watches it all and he hates himself.

**  
**

His whole shore leave he has had similar visions. He’s seen himself grab McCoy by the neck, he’s seen himself beat McCoy, he’s seen himself threaten him and he’s seen him ask him to join him.

**  
**

Jim doesn’t like what he sees.

**  
**

McCoy has made him weak and he can’t allow that. He resolves that he will never again allow McCoy to have power over him.

**  
**

Then he sees McCoy, on his knees in Kodos’ office, hand over his heart and hazel eyes shining in absolute faith and he realises that he isn’t the only one who has this weakness.

**  
**

* * *

  


He can see it. He can see her failing body as she tries to get away. Her legs are broken, the bone peeking through the skin. Her nails scrabble on the ground as Kirk stands over her, marble statue in hand that he used to kill Kodos that he still keeps in his quarters as a souvenir.

**  
**

McCoy watches as Kirk raises it and dashes Joanna’s brains across the ground. He feels his mouth go dry. He knows that Kirk hates ESPers, that if he did find her, this is what he’d do to her, but to see it play out in front of him.

**  
**

It’s like his worst nightmare and even when he closes his eyes he can still hear her muffled cries as she was beaten to death by the man he’d sworn his allegiance to.

**  
**

* * *

  


“The Omicron Delta Device was developed as a training tool for the Academy. It was later abandoned due to its varied success rate in identifying weaknesses in cadets. The Device was placed here, and you were instructed to come test the improvements we have made to it,” the official explained.

**  
**

Leonard stared at him, jaw clenched, his face grey and still trembling from the aftershocks of his waking nightmare. He felt like he was outside his body, looking in. He could see, disjointedly, the way his arm suddenly raised. He hadn’t remembered picking up a knife, but it’s there in his hand and he watched the expression on the official’s face go from amiable to terrified in an instant.

**  
**

He sliced through the the man’s neck with ease. Like cutting through butter. Was he really that strong? Blood sprayed across his cheeks, over his hands, his front, dripped down his chin. He left it embedded in the side of the man’s neck as he fell to the ground.

**  
**

Kirk restrained him a moment later. He could feel the Captain’s strong grip around his arms. Kirk said nothing though, not a word of censure. Leonard could see a triumphant smirk toying at the other man’s lips as he readjusted his grip.

**  
**

“Should we take McCoy to medical?” A nervous Ensign asked, clearly thinking him unhinged. The Ensign would be right, he was unhinged, the repeated brutal murder of his daughter playing over and over in his mind. His own inaction in the face of her slaughter a sickening weight in his gut.

**  
**

“Unnecessary,” Kirk replied. They beamed aboard and Kirk led him through the pristine corridors of the Enterprise, still dripping gore with every step. They got to his quarters and Kirk locked the door behind them.

**  
**

Kirk still had him by the wrist. He raised McCoy’s hands to his lips, smirking that incessant smirk, as he began to press kisses against the blood stained fingers.

**  
**

“They thought you my weakness,” Kirk murmured, blood smeared across his lips. “But you’re not, are you McCoy? You’re a well-trained pet and you’re going to kill anything that seeks to break us.”

**  
**

McCoy didn’t know if Kirk was trying to convince him or himself of that fact. He seemed almost gleeful as he stripped Leonard of his shirt, letting it drop with a wet slopping noise onto the carpet. He led him to the bathroom, filling the sink with warm soapy water and rinsing away the viscera from McCoy’s features. The water slowly turned pink.

**  
**

“I hate killin’, Jim,” McCoy said finally. Kirk paused, the wash cloth warm against McCoy’s cheeks. “But they used my daughter against me. No one can do that without punishment.”

**  
**

“I did,” Kirk said, looking up from McCoy’s red hands. He was waiting for an answer, waiting to discover if he needed to watch his back with McCoy around. McCoy just stared him down.

**  
**

“You ain’t been punished for your crimes yet,” he said. Kirk’s smirk widened.

**  
**

“I look forward to seeing what it is you have in store for me, McCoy,” he said, licking his lips slowly. The blood smeared against his teeth.

**  
**

“You won’t enjoy it, Kirk,” he said flatly. Kirk dropped the wash cloth into the sink before grabbing a towel, dabbing at McCoy’s now clean skin.

**  
**

“McCoys don’t go back on their pledges,” Kirk said. “And you pledged yourself to me even knowing I’d used that creature against you. I don’t think you’ve got the guts to take me on McCoy.”

**  
**

He left with that final parting shot and McCoy let the water run out of the sink. Red and pink and white specks of foam swirled as they were sucked slowly downwards. He stared at it for a long time before he took himself to bed.

**  
**

He was changing, he realised, and he wasn’t sure what he was becoming.


End file.
